Is Satan better at lying than Christians are at speaking God’s truth?

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[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Have you noticed that the truth gets lost in our political debates?  

Those arguments can quickly become about the rights people have versus what is right. Sadly, a lot of people under the age of forty have grown up hearing more political dialogue than biblical truth. 

Christians can learn a lot from the rhetoric of the abortion debate, LGBTQ issues, and the gender debates. Currently, Satan seems to be better at lying than Christians are at speaking the truth. 

Many Christians grew quiet when the children they loved started having sex with their dates. 

Many Christians stayed quiet when the children they loved lived as married before they were married. 

Many churches rightly made room for sinners but quietly accepted their sins in the process. 

Many Christians redefined holy as “pious” instead of being “born again” or “Spirit-filled.” 

Many Christians were compassionate toward the life of the mom but quiet about the life of her baby. 

Many Christians are filled with anger at people’s sins rather than feeling compassionate grief for what is driving their sins. 

Biblical correctness requires caring about God’s truth more than opinions or feelings 

Let’s think about it. 

The issue of abortion

A man can be charged with murder for killing an unborn child in a car accident. A woman, however, has the right to take the life of her unborn child at any time if her state makes abortion legal. 

Where is the “gender neutrality” in that fact? If gender is neutral, then will the man soon be allowed to determine his child’s right to life too?  

Biblical truth is easily seen in the baby’s beating heart on the sonogram screen. It is a baby. It isn’t right to take the life of anyone just because you want to. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to carry a child to term who was created through violence. At the same time, I have known wonderful, happy children who were allowed to live and lead a rich life, even though they were created by violence.  

Think about it. 

The biblical truth is that this fallen world has a lot of “tribulation” and always will. Our troubles don’t change God’s truth. We don’t get a pass because something is painful. A baby is a baby, whether or not it is wanted. Abortion shouldn’t be anyone’s right because it isn’t right.  

The issue of gender

I honestly don’t understand why this is an issue. A person is born as a man or a woman. It is a rare medical emergency if the doctor can’t hold the newborn and instantly know the baby’s gender.  

Biblically, it is fine if a person doesn’t want to marry. It is just fine if a person enjoys the companionship of someone of the same sex. What isn’t fine is the idea that if you love someone or just enjoy their company, you should include lust or sex in the relationship. At what point did our culture begin to believe that love, fondness, or personal enjoyment make a sexual sin acceptable? 

Scripture does not permit sex with anyone who is of the same sex, or with anyone of the opposite sex, before being biblically joined in marriage. I’ve watched God’s truth on this subject become silent, even disdained, in my lifetime. God’s truth hasn’t changed, but the opinions, teaching, and preaching of God’s children have changed dramatically.  

Think about it. 

What would our culture look like if people accepted the biblical message about the sexual relationship? Could our schools be stronger? Could our hospitals provide better care? Could crime rates dwindle? Could we be a better, happier world if children were raised with biblical values and character instead of simply given life and the permission to live it any way they choose?  

Morality will not be inspired by political legislation. It is a matter of sanctification. People need the Lord and they deserve to know his truth. 

The issue of personal freedom

Personal freedom was at the heart of most of the controversy in the New Testament. Our struggles today are the same struggles the early church endured. How free are we in Christ? 

Most of the Hebrew people were appalled at the freedoms the Gentiles enjoyed. Some of the early Hebrew Christians began testing the waters of forgiveness. The New Covenant taught that, no matter what they did, a Christian had eternal life promised to them. 

So, did it really matter if they wanted to sin just a bit?  

Personal freedom was Paul’s daily debate in the first century. Paul clarified Christian freedom saying, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13). 

Our current debates about personal freedoms don’t represent a new problem as much as they reveal the truth about sin. The first-century issues still remain in the church today. How did the early church work to get past their issues and thrive? 

They had Paul and the other apostles who preached the gospel truth. The leaders preached the need for repentance from sin, not just acceptance of sinners. God wants all people to understand how to be made right with him rather than feel right about their sins. A person’s personal freedom was not given a higher priority than their holiness. 

Think about it: If Paul struggled in the first century with personal freedoms, shouldn’t we expect to struggle with the same issues in the twenty-first century? Shouldn’t we also trust that if the early church could thrive amid all their sins, the church today can do the same? 

Paul’s teaching remains truth today. 

Paul wrote, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

The truth: God is faithful

It is never our right to do wrong. 

And, let’s face it, God would say the same thing to us that he said to the prophet Hosea: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6).  

It is our children who suffer when we don’t speak God’s truth. Some of our children in church today don’t hear God’s word taught, and others might believe God’s truth doesn’t apply to their generation. But the truth matters for everyone, and it will matter eternally.  

Has Satan been better at lying to our kids than we have been about teaching them the truth?  

The answers are in our statistics and discussed as political rhetoric in our news. God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If we reject God’s truth, he will reject our ministries. Our kids and grandkids will be “forgotten by God on that day” if we don’t teach them the truth. 

Take a minute and see the faces that have come to your mind as you read. Picture them at the gate of heaven as they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you.” Christians will find it difficult to stay silent if they understand and believe that what Hosea wrote is God’s eternal and unchanging biblical truth.  

Is Satan better at lying than we are at speaking God’s truth?  

The early church fought their culture wars and won many people to faith in Christ. So can we. 

Remember that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Satan will continue to be successful at lying until we get better at sharing the truth. Let’s start by caring as much about speaking the truth as Satan cares about telling his lies.

Who will you speak with that needs to hear God’s truth today? Will you pray for the strength and wisdom to share that truth with God’s love?  

People need the Lord.

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If Elvis Had Lived

Last Sunday, NBC aired the fiftieth-anniversary show of Elvis Presley’s 1978 comeback show. Jim and I caught the last hour.

Blake Shelton hosted, and it was packed with a lot of today’s most popular musicians, each singing a song Elvis made famous. I couldn’t help but think how much Elvis would have enjoyed watching it.

The music was great, and it looked like people in the audience were enjoying the show. But the flashback clips and the interviews with his family told the real story. Elvis might have lived—if he had lived his genuine life instead of the manufactured version Hollywood produced.

If Elvis had lived:

He would have known his family

There was something about Riley Keough that looked familiar. I couldn’t place it until she said, “My grandfather would have . . . .”

Riley Keough’s grandfather is Elvis Presley. They have the same eyes.

Maybe it was because we had spent the long weekend with Wes, our grandson, who looks just like our son Craig. Maybe it was because Jim and I had remarked dozens of times how much Wes reminds us of Craig. But, I listened to Riley Keough talk about her grandfather, a man she never got to meet, and I felt sad. Elvis Presley missed many of the most important moments of his life.

Jim and I watched the rest of the television program.

The fame caught him up

The show celebrated the amazing career of a man who was an unlikely star. Elvis was born a twin, whose brother was stillborn. He lived in a two-room house where his dad eked out a living doing odd jobs. As a boy, Elvis attended an Assembly of God church with his mother, his favorite person in life. His parents moved to Memphis, where his love for a blend of blues and country music was formed.

Presley’s music career quickly morphed into Hollywood movies. He told the Saturday Evening Post in 1956, “I just fell into it, really. My daddy and I were laughing about it the other day. He looked at me and said, ‘What happened, E? the last thing I can remember is I was working in a can factory and you were drivin’ a truck. . . . It just caught us up.”

But, Elvis Presley died at the age of forty-two, a drug addict and a sick man with a wasted life. He missed watching his daughter grow up, and he missed knowing his granddaughter. In fact, he missed most of what his life could have been if he hadn’t been “caught up” in the wrong things his life afforded.

God would have caught him

The reason I chose to write this blog post is not that I am a huge Elvis fan. There was a moment in that tribute show that caused both Jim and me to stop and take note. Carrie Underwood and Yolanda Adams were given the opportunity to share the gospel music Elvis sang. And boy, did they “share.” Their tribute was amazing.

A USA Today article began with this surprising information: “Elvis Presley may be called the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but the only Grammy Awards he ever won were for his gospel music.”

The article describes the importance gospel music had in defining Elvis’s career. Friends said he used to warm up at the recording studio by singing sacred songs. The reporter stated, “He invited people back to his penthouse suite in Las Vegas for all-night gospel singalongs during his stint of performances in the late 1960s and ’70s at the International Hotel.”

Why didn’t the faith Elvis sang about become the faith that controlled his life?

We are supposed to use our gifts for God’s glory

I feel the same sadness for Elvis that I do for Whitney Houston. She passed because of drug addiction as well. Both of those gifted musicians missed out on living their lives because they misunderstood and misused their God-given gifts. They both got caught up in the world and lost what mattered most.

In Sunday’s show, Carrie Underwood sang “Amazing Grace” as a tribute, not so much to Elvis, but to the God Elvis knew. Gospel singer Yolanda Adams sang “He Touched Me,” and then both women sang a duet of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The videos are on YouTube and worth watching. These two women had the finest vocal performances of the evening, but that wasn’t the only noticeable difference. They both sang from a personal relationship with God. They were using their gifts for his glory.

They ushered the presence of Christ into the arena. It was much like the performance of Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill at the 2011 CMA awards. I hope you will take the time to watch that video from beginning to end, paying close attention to the faces in the audience.

At the time of this writing, the video has been viewed 17,701,114 times. Why?

Your giftedness can be the presence of Christ

When we use our spiritual giftedness for the glory of God, Jesus is ushered into the room. That’s what happened on both of those shows. Everyone watching knew something was different during the performance, but I hope they recognized that the something was really Someone.

I imagine Elvis would give up his earthly rewards for the chance to sing for Jesus again, like those other musicians. His earthly glory was a dead-end road, literally. And that is something all of us should consider for our own lives as well.

When last did your spiritual gifting reveal the presence of Christ to others?

You have a gift, and that gift is the way we reveal Jesus to others.

Are you using your gifts for the purpose they were given?

Your gift doesn’t have to be a performance. In fact, it probably isn’t. Your gift is simply who you are in Christ Jesus. We need to live in such a way that, when we enter the room, we bring the presence of Christ Jesus with us. His Spirit is tangible, but we have to be cautious.

Elvis and many others would warn us about using God’s gifts for our own glory. Success is using our gifts for God’s kingdom purpose. The apostle Peter said, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10).

How will you share your giftedness with others today?

That is how we share God with the world. We don’t share something; we share Someone.

And to him be all glory!

Who is Kermit Gosnell?

A note from Janet: This isn’t a typical blog post this week—it will be difficult to read. But I felt a strong conviction to write this. I hope you will read this prayerfully, with understanding.

Who is Kermit Gosnell, and why doesn’t everyone know that answer? There is a movie out that I would encourage all of you to see. Sometimes we don’t go to a movie to be entertained but because we need to be reminded or informed. Gosnell: The Movie is that. We recognize Ted Bundy, the Boston Strangler, Jeffrey Dahmer, and John Wayne Gacy as serial killers, but I had never heard of Kermit Gosnell. Why?

In 2013, Gosnell was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and felony late-term abortions. Today, he is in prison serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Gosnell ran a filthy, inner-city abortion clinic. When the FBI raided the clinic for prescription drug crimes, they found a horrific situation that led to Gosnell’s trial. The movie is based on eyewitness courtroom testimonies and FBI reports. The atrocities portrayed in the movie happened. But, most of us barely heard about this news. Why?

Dr. Gosnell was an African American inner-city doctor. He performed affordable abortions for women whom the culture had decided should be viewed with sympathy more than integrity. Government health agencies had ignored repeated complaints about the clinic for sixteen years because it was easier to avoid what was happening than fight those who would have called their actions racist, religious, or politically motivated. The result: Dr. Gosnell performed tens of thousands of these abortions over a period of thirty years.

His employees estimated that more than forty percent of those abortions were over the legal 24.5-week gestational period. Many of the babies were alive at birth, and Gosnell murdered them after delivery. He went to jail, not because he performed abortions, but because it was proven he had taken the lives of babies born alive and had been responsible for the death of a woman who had come to his clinic.

When abortion became a political issue, many people stopped thinking about it as a moral issue. There is no way to see the factual events portrayed in this movie and leave unmoved. Could that be why so few people have ever heard of Dr. Kermit Gosnell? He was a serial killer whose story went largely unreported because of his race and because those he murdered were supposed to have been aborted.

Why does Dr. Gosnell’s story matter today? First, abortion is not a political issue; it is a moral issue. Why were those babies’ deaths considered murder simply because they were born alive? Now, legally, those babies die every day without criminal prosecution simply because the babies are killed in utero. God, forgive us, for growing silent or political about this issue.

I don’t know what else to say, and I’ve got so many tears running down my face I can’t see my computer screen anymore. I don’t know how to stop the genocide that has become a political hot button instead of a moral and spiritual crisis. The world can call it a fetus, an unwanted baby, or a pre-term pregnancy. God calls that baby his child.

This is the abortion statistic website I would encourage each of you all to look at. I could quote numbers, but this website is profound. The next link I will give you comes with a word of caution. Some of you may not want to see this, and it wasn’t shown in the movie, but I thought it was important to include in this post.

One of the moments in the movie that affected me the most was a portrayal of the turning point in Gosnell’s trial. One of his nurses had used her cell phone to take a picture of a baby boy that had been born alive, and that Gosnell had joked about before snipping its spinal cord. The jury was shown this picture, and it resulted in one of his murder convictions. Be prayerful if you view it. Thankfully, this baby has joined millions of others in heaven, where he is loved by his Creator.

But, that baby should have been loved here on earth as well. That is why I chose to write this blog post. Pray. We have to keep speaking, fighting, caring, and witnessing to those who think abortion is an acceptable form of birth control. It is not!

See this movie—not because it is entertaining, but because it is important. And join me in asking God what more we can do to serve him and serve these babies and their moms, remembering Mary’s words: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37 ESV).

God help us. Amen.